It’s one of the first of its kind in France. In 2022, Dametis installed a refrigeration plant on an industrial site with innovative heat recovery using cutting-edge technologies. In addition to electrifying steam requirements, this installation improves performance,reduces environmental impact and meets the site’s desire to move towards an ideal factory model with electrified processes. Yann Balem, design engineer at Dametis, tells us more.
“After an audit carried out in 2021, a food processing industry made two observations: the need to renovate its refrigeration system and change one of its boilers. All with the aim of saving energy “, explains Yann Balem. To meet these expectations, Dametis presented a project involving replacement of the steam boiler, installation of a new chilled water production system with optimized heat recovery, and a highly innovative heat pump.
Why choose a high-temperature heat pump?
A heat pump for hot water can heat up to 80°C. The one installed by Dametis and its partners is capable of reaching 95°C. Its testing and installation on a site is a first in France. “Reaching such a high temperature enables us to power processes such as milk pasteurization, which requires water at over 85°C,” explains Yann Balem. “We also plan to use this pump to supply the CIP ( cleaning-in-place ) system, reheating the acid and soda tanks.
A concept with economic and environmental benefits
To achieve this, the heat pump’s cold source must be supplied. This may seem paradoxical, but “to produce cold, you have to reject heat”, points out the Dametis project manager. “Like the heat pump, the refrigeration plant is a thermodynamic system. We produce cold and heat at the same time”. Heat recovery from the chiller has been optimized to reach 55°C. This 55°C loop feeds the heat pump’s cold source, which in turn produces 95°C water on a second network.
The French electricity mix is one of the most carbon-free in Europe, compared with certain other countries, notably Germany. In fact, thanks to the high proportion of nuclear and hydroelectric power in France, we emit less greenhouse gas per kilowatt-hour produced than fossil fuels.
For example, for the dairy industry project, the heat pump enabled greenhouse gas emissions from processes previously powered by gas-fired steam to be reduced by a factor of at least 15, according to ADEME* indicators.
Indeed, according to a study conducted by ADEME (source = Base Carbone ADEME), 1 kWh of French electricity consumed emits 0.0407 kgCO2equivalent, while 1 kWh of natural gas emits 0.227 kgCO2equivalent. A far greater quantity of greenhouse gases is emitted to produce a kWh of gas. For information, in Germany, 1 kWh electricity = 0.357 kgCO2e.
There are also operational benefits. “In the project, we also created a 55°C network,” he points out. “This saved money, but it has a double benefit because we eliminated the steam exchangers producing medium-temperature hot water requirements, such as domestic hot water, and by doing so we reduced the cost and time spent maintaining the steam distribution systems.”
*ADEME: French Environment and Energy Management Agency
An amortized investment
Dametis proposed this turnkey project. The start-up took charge of every aspect, from overall design and preparation of the engineering file, through to management of subcontractors, ensuring the smooth execution of the work. Dametis experts also oversaw budgeting and scheduling, and structured the third-party financing solutions.
“We also commit to performance. If we don’t make the savings we initially announced, we take penalties.” In this way, Dametis commits to maintaining optimum performance for several years. Thanks to this approach, savings of around 25% are expected on gas, while the site will benefit from a reduction of around 20% in its carbon footprint.
To achieve this, the MyDametis software is a considerable asset. This tool maps and centralizes all information relating to the management of water, energy and environmental waste. With this business platform, you not only know how much energy, water and materials you consume, but you can also model flows between equipment as a function of parameters, to find the optimum setting for your installations and monitor their performance over time.
Although this innovation was developed in a food processing company, all industries may need to acquire it. ” With water at 95°C, we can cover a lot of needs”, explains Yann Balem.
